When Pat Elflein looks back at his Ohio State football career, he cites two games where deafening crowd noise presented hurdles as an offensive lineman.
“Penn State's loud, the Sugar Bowl was loud,” Elflein said on Monday, referring to Ohio State's 31-24 double overtime win in Happy Valley two years ago and the thrilling 42-35 victory over top-ranked Alabama in the College Football Playoff later that season.
The Buckeyes and Crimson Tide met at the Louisiana Superdome while Beaver Stadium is known for housing more than 100,000 white-clad and raucous Nittany Lions fans. Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium's capacity is only 82,112 — not quite on the same level as Happy Valley, but it still gets plenty loud. With Saturday's game between No. 3 Ohio State and No. 14 Oklahoma being the first road contest of the season for the Buckeyes, Elflein's offensive line group is set to embark on a challenge three of the five starters have yet to face.
“Those guys haven't been in a hostile environment like this, at night, in this big of a game,” Elflein said of new starters Jamarco Jones, Michael Jordan and Isaiah Prince. “So we're going to get them ready, probably pump some crowd noise in there and make it hard to communicate. So they get used to that. We gotta get those guys ready and get them prepared for what you're going to see.”
It is nearly impossible to replicate to an exact science the specific sounds and roar a new crowd will unleash come game time but Elflein said the onus is on him and Billy Price as leaders to make sure others don't flinch when they can't hear what the former says Saturday night. Instead, they just react.
“If I can't make the calls or they can't hear the calls I'm making then need to know what calls I would be making and seeing what's going on in case they can't see what's going on or can't hear it,” Elflein said.
Urban Meyer noted the sheer size of Oklahoma's defensive line as something that jumped out at him when he initially popped in film of the Sooners. Oklahoma runs a 3-4 base look, with starting ends Charles Walker and Matt Dimon checking in at 6-foot-2 and 304 pounds and 6-foot-2 and 275 pounds. Nose tackle Jordan Wade is 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds. Against Houston, the Sooners allowed only 89 yards on 40 carries while giving up 78 yards on 29 carries last weekend against Louisiana-Monroe.
“They're big, gigantic guys inside. Very similar to Alabama defensive line,” Meyer said on Monday. “They played the odd four-I defense which is going to negate gaps and makes it very difficult to run.”
Each player listed on Oklahoma's two-deep at defensive line is at least a redshirt junior except two, so it has more playing time and experience than Jordan, Prince and Jones. How his offensive line will handle the crowd noise, a new environment and bouncing back from mistakes sits prominently in Meyer's head this week.
“It's a concern,” Meyer said Tuesday on the Big Ten teleconference. “Wednesday and Thursday we'll pump crowd noise in like we normally do. This will be one of, it's probably one of the loudest stadiums in the country.”
Ohio State did not run the ball — or throw it, either — particularly well in the first half last weekend against Tulsa. The offense cited a new look from the Golden Hurricane as the reason for its struggles in the opening 30 minutes, which the group amended at halftime and then scored four touchdowns in the second half. The Buckeyes cannot start off slow against a Sooners team that has a potent offense led by Heisman Trophy candidate and quarterback Baker Mayfield.
“We’re trying to do the best we can and as far as communication, if I tell the center something, he echoes that to the rest of the line,” J.T. Barrett said. “Pat is going to tell the guards, the guards are going to tell the tackles. I think that’s something that’s going to help.”
That sounds good in theory, though Barrett knows his normally soft-spoken temperament must go out the window even more with the offense entering a hostile environment with an inexperienced group up front.
“I’m just going to do my best to be loud so the next time you talk to me I probably won’t have a voice,” Barrett said.
Elflein might not either, though his hope is the new guys up front do what they must in practice this week to be prepared mentally and physically if they cannot hear him — sort of like the games against Penn State and Alabama. The Buckeyes won both.
“It goes down in practice and getting prepared,” Elflein said. “They need to be able to make the calls themselves.”
